Excellent article about growing up as a mixed kid in Indonesia

[Pak Tani]

Too rural even for Pak Tani!

I live on the edge of a small town and don't get me wrong, I love it. Many sawahs and other nature around me. Quite peaceful too.

Although my house is made of bricks and mortar, we had our fair share of uninvited animals inside. A scorpion, tokeks and snakes, an ular weling and a green pit viper, both under the couch and an unidentified brown snake. They probably came in when we left the door to the garden open for too long.

A house with no ceiling and no wire mesh to cover the ventilation holes is like an open invitation for all of the above animals and more.

 

[pantaiema]

James "Bule" from Germany become a beggar in Jakarta.

TBH I fail to understand where the problem is. Germany along with other developed countries in Europe are the countries known for their superior welfare systems. No wonder there are a lot of bogus asylum seekers taking risk finding a way to illegally enter the countries aiming for free benefits even they have never contributed to the system. Everyone gets free healthcare (e.g supported by the government), Free Education. Most importantly afaik almost everyone will get a state pension. The value of the state pension itself is already more than regular salary most of the vast majority of Indonesian young workforces. Let alone according to this video he was a professor from Berlin (min 06:05), although it can not be trusted but at least he must have a sizeable amount of state pension ? He speaks Indonesians as he has been living in Indonesia for over 30 years. In this video I hard to understand what he is saying in most part of the video clip. I am not quite sure whether this is caused by the noise or his language problem..

It begs questions here :
Has he already contacted the German embassy / consular in Jakarta ?? He could simply just stay in Jakarta with a decent lifestyle solely relying on his own state pension, considering he was a professor from Berlin (if this is correct)

If not is he an alcoholic, a drug addicted or is he mentally ill (ODGJ as Indonesians name it)?. Does he get scammed from People taking advantage of his illness such as mental health problem, age related illness such as age-related memory loss / cognitive impairment, dementia for instance ?

He can not reside in Germany as he is now Indonesians, but at least he could get his state, occupational pension paid regularly while he is living in Indonesia ?? He must have pensions based on the qualifying years of his contributions when he worked in Germany

 

[snpark]

Is this that German guy who was married to a Princess here or something and then some drama with the daughter etc, was years ago I think?

 

[flavus]

James is not a very German name. Can't really tell the accent when speaking Indonesian though.

Healthcare in Germany is not free by the way. The public system has employee contribution based on salary (and employer contribution as well).

Healthcare in Germany - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[pantaiema]

James is not a very German name. Can't really tell the accent when speaking Indonesian though.

Healthcare in Germany is not free by the way. The public system has employee contribution based on salary (and employer contribution as well).

Healthcare in Germany - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

His name based on this video clip is James Jamson (if it is true). James Jamson is typically found in English speaking countries such as AU, UK, US, NZ. So indeed it is not a very German name. He said he is travelling from AU stopover in ID and intends to travel to DE.

Healthcare in Germany is not entirely free but most Germans who are working are covered by statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung), taken directly from their income as part of employee and employer contributions. So whether you want it or not you will automatically have statutory health insurance, deducted from your income and employer's contribution. In addition there is also still charge for a visit to the general practitioner (GP) every quarter, I think around EUR10 so negligible.

But there are government programs in Germany that provide healthcare support to people who cannot afford statutory health insurance, low incomes family. It provides coverage for basic medical services, such as doctor visits, hospital stays, and prescription drugs.

Because you can not opt out (statutory requirement), those who can not effort it get support (e.g free for them), it could be literary called free healthcare. It is quite similar to the way the taxation and/or the way NHS (National Health Service) in the UK is funded. It is not free because you actually pay it from your salary. But whether you like it or not as it is automatically deducted from your salary as part of NI (National insurance) contribution. You do not see this money. Those who are on benefit, do not have income, they get it for free. That is the way the cross subsidy is working in developed worlds. Keep in mind the government do not have money it is either asking people to pay for statutory insurance or taking tax directly.

My guess this guy has a mental illness.

 

[flavus]

But whether you like it or not as it is automatically deducted from your salary as part of NI (National insurance) contribution. You do not see this money. Those who are on benefit, do not have income. they get it for free. That is the way the cross subsidy is working in developed worlds

Fair enough, in his case it will probably be free.

I like the German model - it's a nice middle ground between the UK and Canadian single payer model (see the problem with the NHS now) and a purely private insurance model.

Patients get choice of insurance providers (but these are well regulated - and mandatory - I think the US ACA aspires to this though does not say it out loud) and can choose the tradeoff between premium and deductible to some extent, but as you said there is cross subsidy involved so the more well off subsidizes those with low or no income.

Germany allows high earners to opt out too, though IIRC it used to be that you can't opt back in but now you can.

 

[pantaiema]

Another 'Bule' Laila from Canada and her husband, documenting their abundant life in a village in Lombok. A healthy life, with fresh food. Cooking for herself, with no need to go to the gym due to such daily activities. It appears that she thoroughly enjoys it.

 

[snpark]

Another 'Bule' Laila from Canada and her husband, documenting their abundant life in a village in Lombok. A healthy life, with fresh food. Cooking for herself, with no need to go to the gym due to such daily activities. It appears that she thoroughly enjoys it.

What Visa they have? Lol
The daily Mail readers are asking

 

[Samoerai]

Wow, screaming to be "deportasi" …

 

[Ruserious]

no need to go to the gym

She doesnt come across as the most healthy looking person. Kind off feels like she is avoiding life rather than living it. Each to their own i guess.

 

[R Cameron]

What Visa they have? Lol
The daily Mail readers are asking

It says in the video description she lives in her husband's village, so presumably a spouse KITAS or KITAP.

Wow, screaming to be "deportasi" …

Why?

 

[snpark]

I thought she had bule husband

 

[snpark]

She's taken the videos down
Enough said

 

[pantaiema]

LAI

What Visa they have? Lol
The daily Mail readers are asking

I believe Laila does not read the "Daily Mail" because it is a British tabloid, while Laila is a Canadian. Not many daily mail reader in this forum either, I guess.
However, if this is indeed a serious question, I wonder if this self-explanatory description still requires an explanation.

"Hello! My name is Lailaka and I am a Canadian expat living on Lombok Island, Indonesia. I live a very simple, but not so easy life in my husband's village ..."

 

[pantaiema]

I thought she had bule husband

You would have thought so, but I understand everyone is unique and different.

She's taken the videos down
Enough said

I wonder who else in this forum shares the same opinion ?? Lacking of something ??

 

[Samoerai]

I only watched the second video, where she promotes the cheap living costs. That reminded me of Kristen Gray, who was deported because of promoting cheap living cost in Bali and writing a guide how to move to Bali.

American Kristen Gray to be deported from Bali amid Twitter row

Kristen Gray's tweets about life in Bali came to the attention of authorities after they went viral.

www.google.com

Maybe not total similar, because Kristen Gray was also promoting LGBT lifestyle.

 

[nd_eric_77]

I only watched the second video, where she promotes the cheap living costs. That reminded me of Kristen Gray, who was deported because of promoting cheap living cost in Bali and writing a guide how to move to Bali.

American Kristen Gray to be deported from Bali amid Twitter row

Kristen Gray's tweets about life in Bali came to the attention of authorities after they went viral.

www.google.com

Maybe not total similar, because Kristen Gray was also promoting LGBT lifestyle.

Pretty sure the last part was the primary (if not the only) reason for her deportation. IIRC, it was officially because she had given advice on how to violate covid-related immigration policies.

 

[pantaiema]

I am afraid that in "their" Western country, those Bali kids, when becoming adults and having jobs there, will keep struggling and will face a lot of bias. Trying to say this in a nice way. It's good that both decided to live in Indonesia.

I understand that this is not a current post, but it's valuable to revive it to encourage further discussion.

From what I've observed, many individuals manage to integrate successfully into Western countries when they begin their lives there through an educational path. This often starts with education at various levels, such as high schools, A-levels in English-speaking countries, Abitur in German-speaking countries, or the Baccalaureate/Baccalauréat in other countries.

It's important to note that, unless it is a private independent school, education for youngsters up to 18 years old is typically free in these countries. Additionally, they may receive support for their living expenses from the state if one of their parents or family members was working in those countries previously and currently do not have enough income to support them.

The likelihood of successful integration is significantly increased if they continue their education at higher levels in higher education. Moreover, in some universities in Western countries, higher education is still free for their citizens in state-funded universities. Even when it's not free, students may be eligible for student loans with very favourable repayment terms. Also they are still allowed to work limited hours while receiving state funding, loan.

Integration through education offers a high chance of success, as school children and students are generally not inherently racist. The chance to be able to integrate successfully is much greater if they live in boarding schools, dormitories, etc. Furthermore, legal frameworks and many politicians are supportive of these efforts.

 

[Samoerai]

From what I've observed, many individuals manage to integrate successfully into Western countries when they begin their lives there through an educational path. This often starts with education at various levels, such as high schools, A-levels in English-speaking countries,

I was not talking about "integrating successfully" in post #5. When they (e.g. those Bali kids) start their career in a Western country, that's when the discrimination starts. That's my own observation, but also my own experience. In my own country I started to talk about this long before Black Lives Matters caused a wave in Europe resulting in recognition of institutionalized racism. I have experienced many many many situations where I have been a victim of racism during my career. In The Netherlands white people look down on 'people with black hair', even if they don't know it consciously. Let me give you an example of the many many many situations I encountered.

A colleague of mine was moon lighting, meaning he was giving classes in the evening at a university. Now, I have a degree in Physics & Math and also a MBA degree. I love passing my knowledge to young people. So, I asked him if it was possible for me to also teach at this university. His answer was: "Huh, but you need to have a MBA-degree".

Another example. I was waiting for family to arrive at Schiphol airport. A stewardess came to me saying: "If I were you, I would gather all the trolleys and put them in the corner over there". She thought I was working as a cleaner at the airport.

One recent case I experienced (twice actually). I was promised a management position, when I passed a psychological research. I had to do all kinds of test, including intelligent tests. At this agency for psychological research they said that I was the first person to undergo so many tests. And I also was thinking: "Wow, this level of testing is brutal". But in the end I passed. Did I get the position? Of course not. They, meaning HR asked for the most difficult tests, just to make sure I would fail. They were surprised I passed and were left with an awkward situation.

 

[harryopal1]

My late wife, died of cancer, was a black American and amazing how many times going through airport security where her hands were checked for explosive contact. In stores in Townsville in northern Queensland she would often be followed around by security. For my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island friends this kind of discrimination was pretty well a daily experience. It seems racism is almost natural to the human condition. In Kenya one very very black mechanic in an open field garage area was always being slung off at by the less dark Africans. But understanding this does not necessarily make it easier to live with if you are identified as different.